![The template open in Strokes: a banner picture of an armchair by a rainy window with a lamp, a cup of tea and a closed book, above the title “Reading journal: [Book title]”.](/_next/image?url=%2F_next%2Fstatic%2Fmedia%2Fhero-light.131f03cd.webp&w=3840&q=75)
![The template open in Strokes: a banner picture of an armchair by a rainy window with a lamp, a cup of tea and a closed book, above the title “Reading journal: [Book title]”.](/_next/image?url=%2F_next%2Fstatic%2Fmedia%2Fhero-dark.c465e0a3.webp&w=3840&q=75)
When to use it
- Keeping a record of what you read this year, with dates, ratings and the passages you marked
- Arriving at book club with page references and real questions instead of a vague impression
- Studying novels in your own genre for point of view, structure and endings you could borrow
- Reading for a class or research, where every quotation needs a page number
- Remembering what you thought of a book years after the plot has faded
How to use this template
- Start a new entry before page one
Make one copy per book and name it so the files sort themselves, such as
2026-10 Frankenstein. Fill in "The book" and "Before reading" now. The before note takes a minute and is the part you will be glad of later, because it shows how far the book moved you from where you started. - Log each session in one line
Date, pages, one sentence. A line written the evening you read beats a page written a month later. When a passage stops you, copy it word for word with the page number; book clubs, essays and your own memory all need the page.
- Write the summary with the book closed
Summarizing from memory shows you what you actually took in. If five sentences come out thin, skim your log, not the book, and try again.
- Finish the entry within a day of the last page
Reflection and verdict go stale fast. Write them while you still feel the ending, then read your "Before reading" note and see what changed.
A filled-in entry
A blank template does not show how much to write. Here is part of one finished entry, for a book anyone can read free online.
Before reading: I know the monster from Halloween costumes and expect a horror story with a laboratory in it. Reading it for book club.
Reading log
- Oct 3, Letters 1–4: It opens with an explorer's letters to his sister, written on his way to the North Pole. Why start with a stranger?
- Oct 6, Ch. 5: The creation is over in a few lines and Victor runs from the room. I expected a lab scene and got a man running from his own work.
- Oct 9, Ch. 11–16: The creature tells his own story and it is the best part. He reads Paradise Lost and compares himself to Adam, then to Satan.
Passage worth keeping (Ch. 10): "I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend." The book's whole argument in ten words. Is it true, or is it what he tells himself?
Craft notes: Three narrators, each inside the last: the explorer's letters hold Victor's story, which holds the creature's. Everyone is pleading a case to a listener. Fire and light keep returning, from the fire that burns the creature's hand to Victor's hunger for discovery. To borrow: let the antagonist narrate the middle of the book.
Verdict: 4/5. Sadder and stranger than the costume. Recommend to anyone who thinks they already know the story. Read next: the first two books of Paradise Lost.
Notice what the log does: three lines over a week, each with a question or a surprise rather than a plot recap. The plot is in the book. The journal holds what only you noticed.
Short entry or full entry
Not every book needs every section. Fill in what serves the reason you picked it up and delete the rest; an entry you finish beats a perfect one you abandon at chapter three.
| Reading for | Fill in | Can skip |
|---|---|---|
| Reading forPleasure | Fill inThe book, one passage, verdict | Can skipReading log, craft notes |
| Reading forBook club | Fill inLog with pages, passages, questions | Can skipCraft notes |
| Reading forA class or research | Fill inPassages with exact pages, characters or key ideas, summary | Can skipBefore reading |
| Reading forCraft study | Fill inCraft notes, passages, reading log | Can skipRating |
Reading like a writer
If you write, the craft notes section is the reason to keep a journal instead of a star rating. Pick one thing per book and look at it closely: how the point of view is handled, how a frame story sets up the ending, which motif keeps coming back and when. Note the page so you can return to it when your own draft has the same problem. Our guide to point of view has the vocabulary if you want it.
Give the fullest entries to recent novels in your own genre. When you query, you will need comp titles, and a year of entries is a shortlist with notes on exactly how each book is like yours and how it is not.
New to keeping any kind of journal? Our guide on how to start journaling covers building the habit.
Frequently asked questions
What should I write in a reading journal?
At minimum: the title, author and dates, one passage with its page number, and a sentence on what you thought. Beyond that, add what fits why you are reading: questions for book club, quotations for an essay, or craft notes on how the book is built.
What is the difference between a reading log and a reading journal?
A reading log records what you read and when: titles, authors, dates, sometimes pages. A reading journal adds what you thought. This template has a short session log inside each entry; for the whole year at a glance, keep a one-line-per-book list in a separate document.
Should I write an entry for a book I don't finish?
Yes, a short one. Note how far you got and why you stopped. Over a year, those notes tell you more about your taste than the books you loved, and they stop you from borrowing the same book twice.
Does this work for nonfiction?
Yes. Use "Characters or key ideas" for the book's main claims, and turn the craft notes into notes on the argument: what evidence it uses, where it convinced you and where it did not.
